HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-03-18; City Council; CS-487; AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CARLSBAD MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 8.36, SECTION 8.36.020 TO ADDRESS QUALITY OF LIFE CONCERNS ...Exhibit 1
ORDINANCE NO. CS-487
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD,
CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CARLSBAD MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 8.36,
SECTION 8.36.020 TO ADDRESS QUALITY OF LIFE CONCERNS RELATED TO
HOMELESSNESS AND PEOPLE LIVING IN VEHICLES
WHEREAS, Carlsbad Municipal Code Chapter 8.36 addresses unlawful camping on public and
private property; and
WHEREAS, the use of a vehicle for illegal camping purposes can endanger the public health and
the environment when camping-related waste and human waste are disposed of improperly;
WHEREAS, the use of a vehicle for illegal camping purposes can expose individuals utilizing the
vehicle to various health and safety hazards, such as limited access to sanitation, clean water, and
proper ventilation, as well as extreme weather conditions;
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad has determined that prohibiting the use of
vehicles for illegal camping purposes within the City of Carlsbad will protect the public health, safety
and environment by ensuring that camping occurs only in those designated areas where appropriate
provisions have been made for handling camping-related waste, food preparation, and fires.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, ordains as follows that:
1. The above recitations are true and correct.
2. The proposed action to amend Carlsbad Municipal Code Chapter 8.36, Section 8.36.020,
to address quality of life concerns related to homelessness and people living in vehicles
is exempt from environmental review under CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) and
15378(b)(5) as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility the proposed
action may have a significant effect on the environment.
3. The Carlsbad Municipal Code Chapter 8.36 is amended to read as follows:
8.36.020. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
"Beach" means those areas as defined in Carlsbad Municipal Code Section 11.32.020.
"Camp" means to use camping implements in an outdoor area or to erect or occupy a camp facility
for living accommodations purposes such as sleeping activities, preparations to sleep (including the
laying down of bedding for the purpose of sleeping), storing personal property, or making a
campfire. These activities constitute camping when it reasonably appears, in light of all the
circumstances, that the participants in these activities are in fact using the area as a living
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accommodation regardless of the intent of the participants or the nature of any other activities
in which they may also be engaging. Camping does not include picnicking, sitting, lying, or sleeping
in an outdoor area or in a camp facility that is not being used for living accommodations purposes.
This definition shall not limit enforcement of Chapter 8.38 "Obstruction of Property and Trespass."
"Camp facility" means a tent, hut, tarpaulin, or other temporary outdoor shelter used for sleeping,
living accommodations purposes, or carrying on cooking activities. “Camp facility” also includes a
vehicle of any kind, whether or not the vehicle is operable, while parked and being used for sleeping
or living quarters.
"Camping implements" means cots, beds, hammocks, sleeping bags, bedrolls, blankets, sheets,
luggage, back-packs, kitchen utensils, cookware, clothing, and similar gear or materials.
"City personnel" means the police department and its third-party contractors and any other city
employees or third-party contractors designated by the City Manager.
"Highway" means a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to public use
for purposes of vehicular travel.
"Open space" means any parcel of land or water which is unimproved and devoted to an open
space use, and which is designated as an Open Space Zone in Title 21 of this code.
"Park" means those areas as defined in Carlsbad Municipal Code Section 11.32.010.
"Parkway" means the area of the street between the back of the curb and the sidewalk that typically
is planted and landscaped.
"Person" is defined as any natural person, firm, association, business, trust, organization,
corporation, partnership, company, or any other entity recognized by law as the subject of rights
or duties.
"Personal property" includes the following items:
1.Medication, medical devices, eyeglasses, or other prescription lenses;
2.Sleeping bag or bed roll which is sanitary and non-verminous;
3.Tents in usable and reasonably good condition;
4.Clothes stored in a manner protecting them from the elements, which are not unsanitary,
soiled, or verminous;
5.Nonperishable food items; and
6.Personal property with an estimated individual fair market value of at least $50.00.
"Public place" means any property in the city-owned, leased, licensed, or operated by a public entity
that is accessible to the public, including any of the following: parks, beaches, alleyways, parking
lots, passageways, rights-of-way, landscaped areas or parkways, streets, highways, open space,
sidewalks, curbs, and public educational institutions.
"Shelter" means a structure designed to provide homeless persons and unstably housed individuals
with overnight sleeping accommodations and relief from the elements. The "shelter" may offer
meals, clothing, and supportive and self-sufficiency development services. "Shelter" may include a
March 18, 2025 Item #7 Page 4 of 6
safe parking lot owned, leased, or operated by the city, another public entity, or a non-profit entity.
"Sidewalk" means that portion of a highway, other than the roadway, set apart by curbs, barriers,
markings, or other delineation, for pedestrian travel.
"Store" means to put aside or accumulate for use when needed, to place for safekeeping, or to put
in place or leave in a particular place, whether attended or unattended.
"Street" means every highway, avenue, lane, alley, court, place, square, sidewalk, parkway, curb,
bikeway, or other public way in the city dedicated and open to public use, or such other public
property so designated by state law.
"Tent" means a collapsible shelter made of fabric, such as nylon or canvas, or a tarp stretched and
sustained by supports, which is not open on all sides and which hinders an unobstructed view
behind or into the area surrounded by the fabric.
"Unattended personal property" means no person is present with an item or items of personal
property who asserts or claims ownership over the personal property. Indicia of unattended
personal property includes, but is not limited to, the act of leaving the personal property in a
public place so that it may be appropriated by the next comer. Personal property is not considered
"unattended" if a person is present with the personal property and the person claims ownership
over the personal property.
"Vehicle" has the same meaning as in California Vehicle Code Section 670, as it may be amended
from time to time.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This ordinance shall be effective thirty days after its adoption; and the City
Clerk shall certify the adoption of this ordinance and cause the full text of the ordinance or a summary
of the ordinance prepared by the City Attorney to be published at least once in a newspaper of general
circulation in the City of Carlsbad within fifteen days after its adoption.
March 18, 2025 Item #7 Page 5 of 6
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INTRODUCED AND FIRST READ at a Regular Meeting of the Carlsbad City Council on the 4th day
of March 2025, and thereafter
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City
of Carlsbad on the 18th day of March, 2025, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NAYS:
ABSTAIN :
ABSENT:
Blackburn, Bhat-Patel, Acosta, Burkholder, Shin.
None.
None.
None.
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY:
CINDIE K. M cMAHON, City Attorney
March 18, 2025
KEITH BLACKBURN, Mayor
j~ ~ "'M1.:·'Mj.u-v ~
SHERRY FREISINGER, City Clerk
(SEAL)
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